


Fools

by aloftadoration



Category: SK8 the Infinity (Anime)
Genre: Angst, M/M, One-sided Cherry and Adam, One-sided Joe and Cherry, Unrequited feelings on all sides
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 06:07:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29896758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aloftadoration/pseuds/aloftadoration
Summary: Kaoru is fascinated by Ainosuke, but Kojiro has an unsettling feeling about it all. Short one-shot.
Relationships: Nanjo Kojiro | Joe/Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom, Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom/Shindo Ainosuke | Adam
Comments: 4
Kudos: 48





	Fools

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, didn’t episode 8 just fill you with so much angst and depth and flavor?

The first day they met Adam, they went with their eyes bright with fearlessness, and egos the size of mountains, and belief, belief that they were the best in Okinawa. Kaoru skated just ahead of Kojiro as the pro tempore leader of the group. He was strong in his ideals, the idea that the perfect skating existed and he was going to get there with math and calculations. Kojiro already laughed at his mission but supported him all the same. He, instead, would focus on the strongest type of skating, the skating that can only be achieved by strength and bravery alone.

_That’s just like you, you muscle for brains._

Kaoru’s jabs rolled off his shoulders like it was air, enveloping him with the sweet memories of childhood they shared for years, unknowingly leading up to this moment. The underground area they rolled into was devoid of construction workers. Kaoru had looked this place up with some software he developed in class. The meet-up with the rival skate crew was of upmost importance. Whoever won the beef (as it would later be referred to as) would win weekend rights to the most sought-after skating spots.

Kojiro had already seen another crew skating around their haunts days before and brought up the issue to Kaoru, who scowled at the idea of someone else taking their territory. Kojiro made the deal with one of the skating lackeys and here they were.

“Kojiro, leave it to me,” Kaoru said over his shoulder.

“You’re the boss, boss,” Kojiro shrugged, though he wanted to protest. No one could beat Kaoru just like no one could beat him. They were the two best skaters among their crew and anyone else for kilometers.

The sound of hard wheels scrapping against the cement floor met them toward the middle of the platform.

One of the guys skated to the front, his face obscured by an absurdly long hood and thick blue hair.

Adam.

They’d heard whispers of him. Someone who could pull the coolest tricks, go the fastest, and leave you wondering how anyone could do what he just did. He’d leave you speechless and jealous.

Kaoru stopped a few meters in front of Adam.

They didn’t exchange greetings, no minuscule movements of the head or hand. Kaoru built momentum with his skateboard before launching himself over a pile of crates. He cleared it with a meter to spare.

Smirking, he landed in front of Adam, silent and challenging. Adam said nothing as he did the same as Kaoru and launched himself over the crates; this time with _meters_ to spare.

Kojiro blinked. _What? How did he get that much air?_

He turned his attention to the pink-haired teen in front.

Kojiro was uncomfortable with the stillness of Kaoru’s figure. The way that his body was attuned to everything Adam did, even if he didn’t do much.

“Hey,” Kaoru said suddenly.

Kojiro didn’t like where this was going.

“You... you skate good.”

“Ha!” Adam burst out in laughter. “Thanks.”

And that was how it started that summer, and the following years after that.

Kaoru, Kojiro, and Adam.

The trio that took on the world in their small neighborhood and left everyone in the dust.

///

Kojiro found himself wondering how much their lives had turned upside down by the addition of another guy to their group of two. They’d hit Kaoru’s and Kojiro’s shared favorite restaurants. That hole-in-the-wall ramen spot. The one cafe with the sweetest of cookies and cakes. Or, Kojiro’s family restaurant, an Italian-cuisine bistro that his grandfather built from the ground up. Adam fit perfectly into their lives. Three seats instead of two. Group chats flooding with messages about the latest skateboarding videos by their favorite youtube skaters. Music recommendations. Street style fashion.

Kojiro liked Adam. He was sure of it. Talking to him, talking about him, nothing made him upset. But, the one thing that got to him, the one thing he couldn’t figure out within an inch of his life, is the way his stomach clenching, lungs collapsing, the heart stilling when he saw Kaoru spend the quiet, the loud, and the everything in between with Adam instead of him.

Kojiro decided he didn’t want to know, but he knew, that he needed to.

One day, he accompanied Kojiro to his family’s restaurant. Adam hadn’t come this time as he was busy with personal stuff (he’d been saying that as of late, and Kaoru was getting a bit nervous about what that meant. He had numerous private texts with Kojiro about that concern, but Kojiro didn’t care what the topic was, he had something with Kaoru, just the two of them, and he guarded it with his life). Kojiro’s mom winked at the two and slipped them two beers. They were three years too young for alcohol, but “what doesn’t kill you, right?” Kojiro’s mom would say in defense. Kojiro took a few sips, still unused to the bitterness of alcohol. When he glanced up at Kaoru, he realized Kaoru’s glass was completely gone.

“Kaoru!” Kojiro sputtered a fruitless warning.

“Hey, Kojiro...” Kaoru’s face slumped onto the desk, the flush spreading throughout his face.

Oh dear, Kojiro thought.

“Kojirooooo!” Kaoru pouted. Kojiro’s heart fluttered. He shouldn’t be excited over the way Kaoru was saying his name, but here he was... Excited nonetheless.

“Y-yes?”

“Do.... Do you think...” Kaoru frowned to himself. Unsure, almost. “Do you have someone you like?”

Kojiro’s mind blanked. They’d never talked about girls between the two of them. Yes, Kojiro had a few girlfriends here and there (boyfriends, too, here and there), but he’d never brought them up to Kaoru. Never. And he wasn’t sure why that is.

“I—“ He didn’t know how to answer this question. Did he even want to answer this question? He gripped his hands tighter around his arms which somehow found themselves there.

“D-do you think Adam has someone he likes?”

Kojiro could only hear white noise. White noise and whatever the fuck was happening to his heart right now. He barely managed to tune back in to hear Kaoru’s next words.

“I think, I think I would be sad. Maybe.”

Kojiro gulped.

“Why?”

Kaoru’s eyes shot up as he realized who he was talking to. Sheepishly, he sunk his head into his folded arms on the table.

“Dunno.”

 _Ah._ Kojiro thought. _I’m a fool._

Soon, he heard snoring coming from the now, knocked-out Kaoru.

He couldn’t feel the heartbreak, not really. Kojiro found himself smiling despite it all.

_I’m a fool who’s in love._

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, Adam deserves to be in jail. Yes, I love him. We exist.
> 
> Thanks to SK8 for revealing another part of the Joe/Cherry/Adam dynamic I didn’t know I wanted.


End file.
